Four Things That Winter 2017-18 Taught Us

Now that the buds are finally appearing on trees in and around New Jersey and Staten Island, we can finally have a little perspective on winter 2017-18 – a strange one, by almost any measure.

The biggest takeaway, of course, is that unpredictability seems to be the new normal: from 30-degree temperature swings to rapid-fire Nor’easters (four in a three week stretch), Mother Nature was certainly prone to her share of mood swings over the last few months.

The answer our fair mother’s capriciousness is to be prepared for anything – and the number one way to do that is to get a heating system tune-up every year. We talked about this back in January, but it bears repeating: the best way to prepare for the winter marathon is to work out the kinks in your heating equipment before the season starts (as we discussed in our last blog, spring is the perfect time to get that annual heating system maintenance out of the way – contact us to schedule an tune-up appointment and beat the fall rush). Four out of five heating system repairs are preventable with routine maintenance – a statistic worth remembering the next time your family is huddling for warmth as you wait for emergency service on the coldest night of the year.

Another reason for that unexpected parka-party in your living room? Fuel run-outs. We saw a bunch of them in early 2018, when record-low temperatures gripped our region for several challenging weeks. Most of those run-outs happened with our will-call customers, who had to wait their turn for a heating oil delivery. Our automatic delivery customers, on the other hand, got priority service for any emergency problems they encountered. That peace of mind makes signing up for FREE automatic delivery our second winter lesson.

The third lesson? Upgrade your heating system when the time comes. At some point, biting the bullet to replace rather than repair your home heating equipment becomes the smarter move. When that time comes, to borrow a phrase from our friends at Nike, just do it – the incredible efficiency of today’s systems and the incentives available from manufacturers and energy programs will quickly pay for your investment.

The last lesson, for those of you who got a bill they weren’t quite prepared for some time in February, is to enroll in our EZ Pay Budget Program. EZ Pay will put an end to unwanted fuel bill surprises by splitting your annual heating costs into 12 equal, predictable monthly payments. That means you’ll pay the same amount for your fuel every month no matter how much heating oil your use! Enrollment for EZ Pay is currently underway for the year ahead – contact us today to enroll. And consider price protection, too: it can shield you from fuel price surges when temperatures plunge.

Four lessons, four ways to make next winter a little easier for you and your family. For other ways to take the stress out of winter, give us a call – we’re happy to help.

Considering a heating system upgrade for your NJ- or Staten Island-area home? We can help. Contact us today for a FREE, no obligation estimate!